Week Three!

Tia is back at NEVOG for what we hope will be her third and final week of treatment.  Despite all the snow we had over the weekend, the drive up to Waltham was uneventful, and we got there 20 minutes before they opened.  Dr. Rosen was not in yet so I just dropped Tia off and returned to Hartford, to work. 

Dr. Rosen just called to say that she examined the tumor and it measures the same as it did last week.  She actually thinks it might be slightly smaller because some of the swelling from the infection has gone down a little.  They will continue with the radiation treatments, but will keep a close eye on the tumor.  If it gets bigger they will stop everything and we'll have to talk about the surgical debridement again.  Dr. Rosen said this is about the time when we should start seeing the tumor get a bit smaller. 

Tia was very quiet over the weekend.  She hardly barked at all, and spent a lot of time curled up on her ottoman.  She also started drooling from the same side of her mouth as the tumor is on.  I asked Dr. Rosen about that and she said it is a radiation side effect - thickening of the saliva.  Tia is still eating well, so I was surprised to see that her weight was a little down from last week.  Now that I think of it, that's probably because the hospital staff overfed her the first week she was there, and now that she's been eating her normal diet she is back to where she should be.  All in all, Tia was not her happy go lucky self, but we hope that will change once all her treatment is done.